Improved cotton-bale tie



Mfg" @1x N.PETERS. PHOTOALITHOGRAPHER WASHINGTON D C etched gime pam anni.

Letters Patent No. 105,172, dated July 12, 1870.

IMPRovED coTToNnsALE Tm'.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

I, WILLIAM CHAMBERS, of the city of New Orleans, State of Louisiana, have invented a certain Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties for fastening together the ends of metallic bands or hoops around bales of cotton, of which the following is a specification.

It is well known that, in the use of metallic bands in the operation of banding vbales of cotton, one great diiicnlty is to take up the slack of Nthe bands, so as to make all the bands of equal length, and the tension on each the same. It is, in fact,`simply impossible to -do this when the ends must be passed through the buckle and then bent under to secure the connection of the'same, which must necessarily be done in all cases wherein the aperture or slot in the buckle that is employed is enveloped by an unbroken continuity of metal.

The result of this diiiculty is, that the bale, when withdrawn from the compressing-machine, expands or bulges out in places, and hence presents'a form not only completely wanting in regularity and symmetry, but which is also very inconvenient whenever a numler of bales is 'to he stowed in vessels, warehouses,

Another serious diicnlty in the use of most exist- -ing cotton-bale tiesgrows out of the fact that one or both the surfaces of thebuckleupon which the strain falls, in consequence of the thiuness of` the plate of whichthey are made, are so narrow that the exure or fold of -the bands, which is necessary to form the hooks at the extremities thereof, to establish the fastening, is so abruptvthat the strength of the metal is impaired to such an extent that the bands frequently yield at that point under the enormous tension to which they are subjected, through the energy of the expansive force -resulting from the elastic properties of cotton under compression, especially if the bale be subjected to any sudden shock or concussion.

The object of my invention is to remedy both these evils, and, in order to eect this object, I so construct my buckle or tie that the last end ofthe band that is fastened to the buckle may be'folded into the form of an oblate hook before it is inserted therein. This secures a uniform length as to all the bands, and the taking up of all the slack.

Furthermore, in the construction of my buckle, I

' provide irregularly-formed expanded bearings for each Ou the drawingf Figures 1 and 2 represent my invention in perspective, and, by an edge'view, the mode in which I prefer to. connect the baud thereto, in actual practice, being shown at iig. 1.

- At Figures 3 and 4 my invention is shown by similar views, as when modied by a iexure or bend ot vthe plate in its center, so a's to have one of the beaiings sufiiciently below the plane of the other to leave av space equal to the thickness of the band between the upper and lower surfaces' of the two.4

A is the buckle, as a whole, which should be of the ordinary size, and made of wrought or cast-iron, and B B two'slits to receive the ends of the bands.

One of these slits, B, is completely enveloped by metal, while the other B' communicates with a cleft or narrow opening, C, that leads through the enveloping-rim, as shown. This cleft allows of the introduction of the last end of the band that is fastened-to the buckle, after it has been bent into hook-form, and thus provides for the equal length of all the bands on a bale; but, separately considered, it is not a new device, nor do I lay any claim to it, irrespective of' the other meritorious features of my invention, nor otherwise than in association with the latter.

This feature consists of an irregular expanded bearing for each end-of the band, which I produce, in .the stamping of the buckle, bya downward depression of those portions of the plate which are cut away, in order to make the slots B B', as shown at D D'.

These depressions present irregular hearing surfaces and a salient edge at the lower corners of their extremities, which, in the practice of the invention, press with great force against the band, and thus prevent its slipping, however greatfthe tension.

I am aware that bearings, of curved form, of greater width than the thickness of the plates of which cotton-ties are formed, at least for one end of the band, are not new, any more 'than openings` similar to C, and, furthermore, that projecting lips, from the een# tral bar in ties, in which two slots obtain, are very common, but they are intended to make the tie selffastening, and I do not claim either the one or the other; but

What I do claim as my invention is The combination ofy a cleft, C, in a cotton-bale tie or buckle, having two slots, B B', with two expanded bearing surfaces, D D', for the two ends of a metallic band, when the said bearing surfaces are produced in the manner herein described.

' 1V. CHAMBERS.

Witnesses:

RUFUs R. RHODES, J No. S. THOMPSON. 

